


Growing pains

by tinabo



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18363806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinabo/pseuds/tinabo
Summary: In a world where not everyone is the most accepting, Yuuri finds himself surrounded by people who do nothing but accept him. Yuuri meets the figure skater Viktor Nikiforov through his roommate, and suddenly everything makes sense.





	1. Beginnings

When he was a kid, Yuuri dreamed of being a famous figure skater. During his childhood, he spent endless hours at Ice Castle Hasetsu with Yuuko. Yuuko showed him a love for sport that he had never known before; however, perfect things never last. His parents believed that Yuuri should pursue an academic path and go to school in the United States. At the young age of 14, Yuuri left for school in Detroit with a large luggage and even larger tote of anxiety.

Yuuri climbs into the taxi and gives the driver the address to McKinnon prep high school. Staring out the window, he thinks about how different the scenery is in America. It will definitely take some time getting used to, mixed with homesickness.

“That will be 56.40 please.” The driver broke Yuuri from his thoughts.

“Oh... right. Do you take credit?” Yuuri paid and steps out from the dingy yellow taxi. The driver pulls his luggage from the trunk, tips his hat and leaves without another word. McKinnon Prep stands tall and intimidating in front of Yuuri. Faded crimson bricks with ivy crawling from the base up to the highest watchtower. With a deep inhale, Yuuri follows the signs towards the dormitory, where he is met face to face with the tallest woman he has ever seen in his life. Yuuri slinks by her to open the door to the dormitory, but the door is locked shut.

The tall woman laughed a deep chuckle and looks at Yuuri with slight pity, but mostly humour.

“You need a student ID to get in there. It’s to keep the creeps out y’know?”  
Yuuri didn’t know, so he just nods politely.

“Kiddo, you gotta head to the office to get your ID. If you want, i can take you there. I just finished my rounds of the ground so i can take you that way. The name’s Pam by the way.”

“Um, hello Pam. I’m Yuuri.”

Pam gave Yuuri a big smile, the warm kind that reminded him of his mother. A sharp pain stabbed in the hole where he realized that he wasn’t going to see her for a long time. He overheard his parents talking about how expensive the plane tickets were, so he wasn’t expecting a trip home anytime soon.

“Not much of a talker are ya Yuuri? You’ve got quite the thick accent, so i’m guessing you’re doing on exchange?”

“Sorry, it’s just a lot to take in. I’m actually going to be a permanent resident here, but I am from Japan.”

Pam’s smile got even bigger. “Very awesome! I guess we’ll be seeing lots of each other then. I’m the head of security on campus here, but I mostly spend my time around the dorms monitoring you folk during the evenings.”

Pam walks Yuuri through the grounds, pointing out important locations for him to know, such as the gymnasium and cafeteria. Yuuri has never seen brickwork architecture like this in his life. The contrast with the green grass was beautiful. Of all the places his parents could have sent him, he is very glad they chose this school.

“Alrighty Yuuri, here ya are. I’m actually off work now so I have to run and pick my wife up from town. Take care kiddo.”

Pam walk away and tosses a little wave back to Yuuri. He briefly considers her statement about her wife, but quickly pushes it aside. Suddenly, Yuuri remembers a time two years ago that he has almost managed to repress.

_“Yuuri!! You’re SO girly!”_

_“What are you gay or something Yuuri??”_

_“Yuuri looked at me once when I was changing so he probably is”_

_“Yuuri that’s weird!”_

His own screams denying every accusation thrown his way echo in his mind. Tears threaten to spill over, but he holds them back with a bite of his lip. Yuuri isn’t gay. How could he be? He cried for days when he found out that Yuuko and Nishigori were dating. Obviously not gay. Yuuri huffs and shoves all of it behind and contributes to walk toward the office to get his student ID.

“Yuuri Katsuki…. Ok i’ll just get you to stand there. No sorry a little more to the left, aaannnnddddd perfect.” The camera snapped and a machine behind the desk began to whir.

“Here you go Yuuri. Make sure not to lose it! These are very hard to make!” The office secretary winks.

“Thank you very much.”

Yuuri walks back through the courtyard to the dormitory and scans his way in. After carrying his luggage around all day and having been travelling for so many hours, Yuuri just wants to crash into his new bed and sleep for two days. He opens up the door to room 304, his new home, and is met with a shriek.

“Yuuri Katsuki!!!! OMG! I’m so glad to finally meet you man, I feel like i’ve been waiting for you to get here FOREVER.” The body language this boy exudes is just pure energy. Yuuri internally groans and musters up the rest of the energy he has on his first impression with his new roommate.

“Hey, you must be Phichit. How long since you got here?” Yuuri provides the warmest smile he can with the amount of fuel he has left. It isn’t nearly as tough as he thought it would be, presumably due to the excess energy from Phichit.

“Oh about an hour. But you wouldn’t believe how long an hour takes when there’s no wifi” Phichit says with a huff.

Yuuri laughs and rolls his eyes. Phichit is a whole jumble of emotions, and quite cute while expressing them.

“Well hopefully they get the wifi up soon, i was supposed to facetime my family when i arrived.” Yuuri will have to wait on that, which is probably a good thing considering Hasetsu is boosting with tourism right now. His parents are probably swamped now with him gone and Mari moved out.

“But more importantly… Instagram!” Phichit shouts, “I haven’t been able to post my man crush monday yet and it’s killing me!!”

Yuuri genuinely laughs for the first time in days and it feels so good. He is definitely going to like Phichit. He seems like a healthy contrast to Yuuri’s quiet and shy side.

“Well which lucky guy is missing out on being featured on your man crush monday post?” Yuuri jokes.

“Well the one and only Viktor Nikiforov of course. He’s the guy on that poster behind my desk. Mega hottie. He took gold at this year’s junior grand prix and is apparently moving to the senior division next year!!” Phichit keeps rambling for a bit longer about the other skaters in the senior division and then pauses for a second. Suddenly, Phichit’s hands flew over his mouth. “Oh my god i’m so sorry, I just spent so long rambling about something and you don’t even know what i’m talking about! I’m s-”

“Don’t worry Phichit” Yuuri tries to give him the most reassuring smile he can. “One of my good friends growing up was into figure skating, so i’m a bit familiar with it myself. The only skater i admittedly know is Viktor though.”

A grin spreads across Phichit’s face. “Well i guess now you know two, because i’m going to be the next junior grand prix champion of figure skating.”

Yuuri and Phichit spend the next hour chatting about figure skating and the current big players in the grand prix circuit. Apparently Phichit is making his junior debut this year, which is a big reason why he moved to Detroit. Phichit will be training under Celestino, a world renowned men’s figure skating coach. Unfortunately Yuuri doesn’t remember the rest of the conversation though, as he was asleep for it.


	2. Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuuri realizes

Junior year homecoming. Yuuri fixes his shirt a little and smiles at the mirror to make sure there is nothing in his teeth.

“Woooweeee whatta hottie. Looking good Yuuri, navy is definitely your colour.” Phichit wraps his arm around Yuuri. Yuuri has a good two inches on Phichit now, but Phichit still likes to act taller by putting his elbow on Yuuri’s shoulder. It honestly makes him look ridiculous, but Yuuri isn’t going to be the one to tell him. “So I got my buddy Leo to get us some fireball. It’s both of our first time trying booze so i figured we had to do it with an iconic drink that comes with an iconic song!”

Yuuri groans. “If i told you this isn’t actually my first time drinking, does that mean i don’t have to drink fireball?”

Phichit aggressively jolts away from Yuuri like he was just burned to the touch. “Yuuri, I can’t believe you! Lying to your best friend about such a thing!”  
“It was only a bit of sake at my parent’s inn because i asked to try it, i didn’t think it counted!”

“Yuuri, i’m wounded by your words. And yes. You still have to drink the fireball.”

Phichit looks back in the mirror and adjusts his bright yellow button up. It’s littered with small pink flamingos and topped off with a pink bowtie. Phichit’s hair is pushed back with some gel and his mascara makes his eyelashes look long and beautiful.

“Phichit, you look phenomenal. I wish i could make myself look nearly that good” Yuuri says as he let out a short, self deprecating laugh. He knows he isn’t beautiful like Phichit, or hot like the jocks at the school. He is just plain Yuuri. At least he is smart, that's the one thing he has going for him.

“You’re kidding me right Yuuri? You look like a bonafide snacc. Here, lets try some of this…” Phichit grabs his hair gel from the counter and pushes Yuuri’s hair back in a similar style. Yuuri’s glasses still sat on his face adorably, but with his hair back it helps show off Yuuri’s sharp jawline. “There you go. Now you’re no different from me, except for my clothing is way cooler.”

Yuuri looks in the mirror and for once, he doesn’t hate what he sees. His jawline is much sharper than the round face he first arrived in Detroit with. Puberty had helped him grow away from the round body as well, and by working out with Phichit he has managed to become quite fit. Yuuri slides off his glasses momentarily, and decides that just for tonight, he would wear contacts. Normally, Yuuri did not care about his appearance at all. He is always too busy focusing on his studies to really care about what styles were in. Unlike Phichit, Yuuri stays away from Instagram, so he also avoids that influence. Yuuri pops in his contacts, which sting a little on contact. Looking back in the mirror, Yuuri realizes for the first time in a while that he feels confident.

“Alright, now i’m ready.” Phichit looks at Yuuri with a fond smile and gives him a hug.

“Maybe you’ll meet a cute girl tonight eh Yuuri?” Phichit winks.

“Um… yea maybe. I don’t know. I think i’m happy just to hang with our friends.” Phichit gives him a small, tender smile. Phichit is very open about being gay, and he has always had the feeling that Yuuri might be too. Yuuri constantly avoids the conversation or says he’s too busy to think about dating, but Phichit imagines it might be more than that.

After a brief appearance at the homecoming dance, Yuuri and Phichit make their way to the after party at the frat house. It isn’t hard to miss, considering there is students doing keg stands on the front porch. Phichit laughs and runs up to try while Yuuri stands in shock in the front yard. This is the first high school party Yuuri has ever been to, and it already seems chaotic. There is a couple having sex in the bush to the side of the house and two boys on the top balcony throwing toilet paper over the railing. Fortunately Phichit managed to convince Yuuri to pre-drink before getting to the house party, otherwise Yuuri would have turned tail the moment he set eyes on the scene. Suddenly, an unfamiliar arm wraps around Yuuri’s waist and startles him.

“Heyyyy beautiful, how come I don’t recognize ya?” The boy is taller than Yuuri. By a lot. Yuuri suddenly recognizes him as the football team’s assistant captain. It’s not that Yuuri has a particular interest in sports, but his roommate has a particular interest in hot boys. Bryan, the assistant captain, happens to be one of those hot boys. A hot boy with breath that absolutely reeks of alcohol.

Yuuri looks over and sees a crowd cheering Phichit on while he did a keg stand. Looks like Yuuri is going to have a long night of comforting Phichit beside the toilet. Since Yuuri and his lack of alcohol tolerance self has already had three shots, he figures it will cause no harm to amuse Bryan. At least until Phichit finishes his keg stand. “Hey, i’m Yuuri. Junior year.”

“Yuuri, that is SUCH a cool name. I can’t believe I haven’t seen you around before. Want to come inside and grab a beer with me?”

What the hell. Bryan wants to hang out with Yuuri? Is it even possible to climb the social ladder this fast? In the spirit of making Phichit proud, Yuuri agrees with his most charming smile. Popularity isn’t a thing Yuuri cares about, but Phichit endlessly insists on him meeting new people.

Bryan leads him to the front door, and just as they get to the porch, Phichit yells out to Yuuri. “Yuuri!!! Did you see that??? I’ll meet you inside, i’m gonna go for the new best!” It is definitely going to be a long night beside the toilet.

Yuuri and Bryan walk through the front door to a fully packed house. The lights were turned low and the rooms were mostly lit by tacky christmas lights. Him and Bryan weaved through the crowd of drunk high schoolers to a keg in the kitchen, one of the only rooms with good lighting. Under this lighting, Yuuri could better make out Bryan’s face. He had a light shading of stubble on his face with soft eyes and dark brown hair. Yuuri doesn’t like to taste of beer, so he cringes a little at the sight of Bryan pouring him way too much. Bryan hands him the red solo cup and leans up against the counter, casually watching the party. Yuuri takes a deep gulp of the beer and sits next to Bryan.

“So Yuuri, have you ever watched the school football games?” Bryan attempts at conversation. Yuuri internally groans, because of course a tall good looking guy would only want to talk about himself. Strangely though, a part of Yuuri really wants to keep this conversation going. It is probably the alcohol. Alcohol makes you chatty, right? This foreign feeling of desire to keep talking with Bryan is definitely the alcohol.

“I have actually. My best friend Phichit likes to go and watch hot guys tackle each other.”

Bryan lets out the loudest sound in the room from his laugh, causing a few people to look over at the two of them. “That is hilarious! I guess that only comes second place to actually getting to tackle the hot guys.”

Yuuri laughs at Bryan’s comment until it sinks in what he had really said. Fear starts to prickle inside of Yuuri’s gut. Everyone had looked at them. Saw them talking. Did they think Yuuri was gay for having a good conversation with another man? Were they going to tease him until he cried? Just like wh-

“Yuuri, i’ll cut to the chase here. I think you’re really good looking. And this is probably the liquor giving me a little liquid courage, but I would die to kiss you right now.”

Yuuri freezes in place. Suddenly the sounds of the party begin to fade and all he can see is Bryan’s soft, pleading face. He is very good looking. And he wants to kiss Yuuri? Yuuri doesn’t know what to say, so instead of saying anything, he ran.

Yuuri pushes through the crowd with a little too much force. He sees Phichit standing with Leo and Guang Hong as he runs out the front door of the frat house. Yuuri distantly hears Phichit yelling after him, but his anxiety is too ramped up to even hear the words his roommate said. Yuuri rushes past the groups of teenagers standing on the lawn all the way back to room 304 of the dormitory.

He slams the door behind him with tears streaming down his cheeks. He wipes them off with a brutal swipe of his hand and falls onto his bed. Viktor Nikiforov, Phichit’s gay icon, stares at Yuuri from the poster behind Phichit’s desk. Viktor, a gay icon, who has no problem expressing his sexuality. Viktor does it effortlessly in his programs, even in costumes that resembled bondage. Yet here Yuuri lays in his bed with an erection that he denies even exists. Finally, he decides to distract himself with Instagram. The first image on his feed is truly what seals the deal, and is most likely some chance of fate. A naked Viktor, covered by only a small towel around his waist stands winking at the camera. Water droplets decorate his muscles. Yuuri’s hand unconsciously finds its way to the bulge in his jeans. Yuuri sighs in relief at how good the contact feels. He has never experienced this before, but with this image of a near naked Viktor winking at him, he can’t help but desire the friction. Yuuri thinks about what it would feel like if it was Viktors hand on him, looking down at him with the same lustful look as that Instagram photo. Yuuri begins to rub faster until he finally spends himself all over his navy blue top. Yuuri looks down at the mess and immediately feels a small jolt of shame, however a large feeling of relief.

Yuuri’s feelings up until this day that he denied being true have always been real, yet he would just explain them away. These were not feelings that could just go away. Yuuri looked at the photo and for the first time he let himself _want_. He looks at the way Viktors lips curve, the way his hips dip into the towel, and the lines of his muscles along his abdomen. Suddenly, the shame he has felt for so long dissipates, and all that is left is realization. There was a reason Yuuri was so uncomfortable with the idea of any romantic or sexual relationship with a woman. Although he has been in denial for so many years, it is now so plain for him to see. Yuuri is gay.


	3. Meetings

Yuuri scans the items on the conveyor belt as quick as he can. He is off in 15 minutes and then him and Phichit are on the next flight to Sochi for the Grand Prix Final.

“You missed my coupon.” Yuuri is suddenly ripped from his daydream by a woman in her mid forties. Yuuri grabs the coupon, which he recognizes as one from a promotion almost two years ago.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but this coupon is expired.” Yuuri says as politely as possible. Yuuri has worked at this grocery store for his whole university education, and has a pretty good idea about how customers act in certain situations. The upcoming reaction will be no surprise.

“WHAT? Are you kidding me? I never come here. The only reason i came here was to use this coupon. What the hell is the point. I don’t even want to buy any of this stuff now.”

Yuuri glances over to the full conveyor belt and only half empty cart. A woman who came here to just use that one coupon? Doubtful. Yuuri looks at the clock and notices that there was only 10 minutes left to his shift. This cow is not going to make him late for his flight. Yuuri smiles and throws on his customer service voice. “That’s would be an awful waste of both of our time now wouldn’t it?”

The woman looks at him in shock and lets out a large disgruntled sound. Yuuri proceeds to scans the rest of her items through. Just because she wants to throw a fit doesn’t mean Yuuri has to put up with her shit. Besides, if they fire him, maybe he’ll just stay in Russia and find a rich sugar daddy after the Grand Prix Final. The woman is out the door with 4 minutes to spare. Yuuri runs to the break room and grabs his stuff from the locker before hurrying to the bus stop. Yuuri gets on the dingy city bus just in time and rides back to his shared apartment with Phichit.

Just as Yuuri puts his key in the lock, the door flings open revealing a very excited Phichit. “Yuuri!! Hurry up we gotta get GOING!”

“We have a ton of time, let me just have a quick shower and then i’ll be good to go. Don’t want to show up to Russia all dingy from work”

Phichit looks very considering of what Yuuri said before gaining a wide grin. “just in case you see your darling Viktor when we get off the plane?”

Yuuri quickly rounded and chucks his keys at Phichit before grabbing his towel. “Are you kidding? I’m getting myself cleaned up so that you and I can join the mile high club.” Yuuri tosses Phichit a wink and then closes the bathroom door.

“Yuuri!!!” Phichit sarcastically bangs on the door to get in. “you minx!!!”

*****

The airplane ride was stuffy to say the least, but they finally touched town in Russia. Yuuri spent the whole plane ride with his nose buried in a book while Phichit spent his time streaming the King and The Skater. This is Yuuri’s first time here, but Phichit had already come to Russia last year for the Rostelecom cup. As per regulation, Phichit is staying in the same hotel as the rest of the Grand Prix competitors. The hotel is bustling with ISU officials, competitors and coaches. Yuuri feels a little isolated considering he knows no one except Phichit. And Chris, who feels like an extension of Phichit at this point based on how much Yuuri’s heard about him. Almost as if on cue, Christophe Giacometti walks up and wraps his arm around Phichit’s waist and gives him a chaste kiss on his cheek.

“It’s been so long mon cheri”

“Chris!! Oh babe i missed you so much!!” Phichit plants a big kiss on his boyfriend before turning towards Yuuri. “Yuuri, you obviously know a ton about Chris but anyways.. HERE’S CHRIS!!”

Yuuri smiles at Chris. He’s only heard good things about the guy, and now seeing him in person he realizes what Phichit meant by sex appeal. Chris oozes sensuality from just standing in front of a concierge desk.

“Well now I feel awfully ignored.” An unfamiliar voice from behind Yuuri makes him jump and turn around. The man standing before Yuuri makes the blood drain from his face. Of course the object of all his fevered dreams since high school is standing a mere two feet away. He’s even more beautiful in person. Although his hair is no longer long, it still shares the same ethereal silver sheen to it as when he was a junior skater. His face no longer that of youth, but rather a man. The outside of his eyes have the beginnings of crows feet from years of smiles and laughter. And most importantly, his deep cerulean blue eyes sparkle from the light of the hotel chandelier. Yuuri just stares at him slack jawed, open mouth. Viktor doesn’t notice at first, but he then looks at Yuuri and gives him a warm, heart shaped smile. God, he was glad he showered before getting on that plane.

“Well if you’re feeling lonely Vik, I hear Yuuri is single and ready to mingle” Chris purrs.

Viktors eyes then flash back to Yuuri. Yuuri can feel Viktor burning a hole through him, but Yuuri just did his best to avoid direct eye contact. He was internally panicking and has no idea what to do, so instead of saying something sensible, he says the first thing that comes to mind: “Your eyes.” That particular statement is something you say in your head rather than as an introductory phrase, but it was out and there is no turning back. Viktor’s face lights up at Yuuri’s comment, despite how stupid it was.

“Wow! Yuuri you’re a smooth talker!” Viktor laughs as he very briefly places a hand on Yuuri’s upper bicep.

Yuuri tosses a “help me i want to die” look back at Phichit. Of course, Phichit is the kind of friend who always wants the best for Yuuri, so instead of bailing, he suggests a double date to help the new “couple” get to know each other.

The four of them arrive at some local shop where the employees know absolutely no English. The diner is cute, with classical Russian charm and some modern pieces as well.

“This place has the best food Russia has to offer! However i’ll have to order for everyone.” Viktor says as they all sit down. “Chris you get the fish guts for the text you just sent me. What kind of food do you like Yuuri?”

Viktor places his cheek in his palm and looks over to Yuuri with complete and undivided attention. An uncomfortable amount of time passes before Yuuri’s brain clicks in to tell him to stop staring and say something, which only causes Viktor to look at him with even more interest. “Um, i guess anything will do. I’m not a picky eater.”

“Except with his taste in men!!” Phichit exclaims. “Yuuri has a very particular type, tall, ath-”

Yuuri spits out his water across the table onto Chris at Phichit’s outburst. Viktor looks a bit disappointed that Phichit didn’t get the chance to finish, while Phichit just laughs in a way that only a best friend can. Even though Yuuri just embarrassed himself in front of his crush and spit on Phichit’s boyfriend, it is probably better than Phichit finishing his sentence. It probably would have finished with the likes of ‘athletic, beautiful, blue eyes, silver hair, Russian, Viktor Nikiforov.’ To be completely honest, Phichit is right. Ever since Yuuri came out to him in high school, Yuuri has not shown much interest in anyone. Despite a few kisses here and there, Yuuri struggles to find a romantic connection with anyone. One of the only constants is Yuuri's attraction to Viktor. It helps that Viktor is very active on social media, so Yuuri always has a way of feeling connected to him. Viktor being here now in person is surreal, as there are things about him that you would never notice on social media or his YouTube interviews. Viktor's mannerisms are more playful than what he lets the media see. He is no longer a gay icon sitting at the table, he is just Viktor. Based on the conversation at the table, Yuuri is starting to realize there is much more behind Viktor than just his looks and his talents. His whole existence is magnetic.

Yuuri is drawn from his thoughts with the arrival of their food. Yuuri remembers that he hasn’t had a full meal since they left the Detroit airport. The others chat amicably while Yuuri focuses on just finishing his meal and getting back to the hotel. This afternoon has been a whirlwind of emotions, the biggest of which being so close to Viktor. Viktor, an inhuman beauty who gives Yuuri butterflies everytime they accidentally catch each other’s gaze.

After dinner and some major PDA from Phichit and Chris, they all say their goodbyes. Yuuri finally finds himself cozy in his bed that he has been longing for. He briefly considers what Chris might have said to Viktor overtext before their meal this afternoon, but it was most likely friendly banter between friends. In the end Chris didn’t have fish guts for dinner so it couldn’t have been that bad.

Yuuri feels a surge of happiness. He not only gets to cheer his best friend on at an international competition, but he also got to meet Viktor. Despite the joy of meeting Viktor, it didn’t feel like enough. Yuuri wants to know Viktor. And he wants to feel Viktor. It had been such a long day, and now instead of thoughts of sleep, he just wants to run through his time with Viktor over and over again. The bed pulls him in, in such a way that only happens after many hours of travel. Yuuri falls asleep and has dreams of Viktor feeding him borscht while singing some Russian folk song. Weirdly, it is the best sleep Yuuri has had in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Grand Prix Final competition

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic! Hope you like it. Expecting about 6 chapters.


End file.
